lS2 



THE NATURE BOOK 



Queen of flowers ? 

 (lelighttul among old 



Even the most 

 English gardens 



owes a great deal to attention to small 

 details, and of these the careful prepar- 

 ation of the soil is the chief, and to roses 

 chmbing the house the most urgent. 



Even when well and carefully planted 

 one tiling still remains to be done if the 

 climbing rose is to give of its best, and 



groups : to rob them of each other's 

 comjmny is to spoil the appearance of 

 the garden and to divest it of its chief 

 delight. The pathways should be fringed 

 with white Pinks and crimson Thrift, 

 in front of the giant spires of Larkspur 

 following closely on Lupines in rose and 

 white and blue : Oriental Poppies, multi- 

 colonred Pyrethrums, Flag Irises, Gloire 



GARDEN OK SHIFLAKE COURT. 



r/'totoj^rafh dy F. Mason Good, H'lnchjlctd. 



that the most ruthless work of all. The 

 shoots, even if 6 feet long or more, should 

 be cut down to within 3 or 4 inches of the 

 soil : then, and then only, is it possible 

 to promote the growth of shoots that 

 shall transform the bare walls into cano- 

 pies of flower and foliage. And much 

 the same treatment is needed by other 

 climbing plants when first put out at the 

 foot of the house or garden wall. 



Wide borders of simple shape suit the 

 old English garden best, borders in which 

 the plants have plenty of room to grow 

 and make wide masses of rich colour. 

 Old-fashioned flowers, such as Lilies and 

 Phloxes, Irises and Larkspurs, are best in 



de Dijon and William Allen Richardson 

 Roses. Cornflowers, Fo.xgloves, Violas and 

 Pansies. should find a place among the 

 early summer flowers ; while Madonna 

 Lilies bordering the grassy way beneath 

 the pillared })ergola would make, perhaps, 

 the fairest sight of all, since they bloom 

 with the roses. 



But the old English garden is not made 

 entirely with plants that are left alone 

 from year to year : some old-world 

 favourites are raised from seed and takd 

 the j)lace of the sjiring blooms, carpeting 

 witli fair blossom ground that would 

 otherwise remain bare. Such, for in- 

 stance, as Candytuft, Sweet Alyssum, 



